Sleep to Heal
by MeredithBrody
Summary: Brody knows that sometimes the quickest route to healing is to sleep. (Post-ep 1x22)(Prody)


**So, this was the ep tag that never wanted to end I swear. I'm not quite sure how it got where it ended up but... well what can I say. Sometimes that's the way it goes. OH MY THERE WAS SO MUCH PRODY THIS WEEK THOUGH. I'm so happy about that. The finale next week is going to kill me, I'm sure. Anyway, as always, please read and review.  
Shin xx**

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She was stood outside the warehouse as Jenks' body was taken away. She knew there was a lot, as a team, that they needed to go over, but right now her main concern was for the two men in her life. While LaSalle was battling everything, right now he just seemed empty. Pride was the one who was going to cause trouble, right now, unless she headed him off. So she walked up beside him and gently placed her hand on his arm. "It's over Dwayne, there's nothing else you can do here." She muttered quietly. It was rare she used his first name, but when she did it generally helped focus him on what he was doing.

"What do you suggest?" He asked, and she wrote the hostility off as being the situation they were in. Jenks told them that there was a hit on the city planned, then he was murdered before he could give any details. She didn't feel sorry, at all, that Baitfish was dead. With all the pain he had caused Pride over the years, and now the pain he was causing LaSalle, she was a little sorry she hadn't been the one to do it. But they had bigger concerns, and none of it was something they could do tonight.

"Back to the office, get some sleep, then start searching on what Jenks just told us in the morning." She suggested, she knew that he would try and complain, especially about the 'sleep' part of her suggestion, but she needed to get them to sleep, and then she could go home and do that too.

"Brody." He started, but she just looked at him. She hoped that he knew he wasn't going to get away with anything tonight. She was worried about him, and LaSalle, and she wanted to just get them both into bed. Then she would be able to stop worrying for the night.

"Come on. LaSalle!" She shouted for their friend, glad that Pride didn't put up any more of a fight. She felt that reminding Pride that LaSalle was also staying in one of the rooms in the back of the office for a few days was a good idea. They hadn't had time to stop the last couple of days, and she hated that, because they hadn't had any time to decompress at all, and that was necessary. "He's staying at the office until his apartment is cleared. In the other bedroom. I want to get you both settled."

"You're hurt." Pride's only comment was, and she just shook her head. She had a tiny physical injury. The tiniest of problems. It had taken two stitches and it had been closed and she'd been able to go on with her life as normal. The pain Pride and LaSalle were going through... she knew how that felt. She'd been where they were, and if she could make it any easier on them she would.

"It took two stitches, I'm fine." She didn't want him worrying about her, and she was absolutely certain that he wouldn't if she reassured him. There was one other thing she could reassure him of. "Sasha Broussard is in prison right now, you made sure of that, she can't do anything."

"She managed to kill Jenks from prison." OK, he had a point, but there still the simple fact that they couldn't do anything right now.

"That could have been planned before. It doesn't matter anyway. You need rest." She got to the car and was surprised to see LaSalle was already sat in the back. Since she already had the keys she decided it would be best if she drove. She was also the most conscious member of their little team. "I'll drive." She should have known something was wrong given that neither of them argued.

The drive back was silent, Brody was concentrating and both Pride and LaSalle were off in their own worlds, thinking about whatever they were thinking about. Almost as soon as they got to the office LaSalle headed to the back. That was when it became obvious he wasn't going to stay and socialise. "I'm going to bed." He tossed over his shoulder, not even stopping as he did.

"See you tomorrow LaSalle." She called back, wondering for a moment if she should go after him. It only took a moment's consideration for her to realise that was probably a stupid idea. He needed some time alone to work through what had happened, and following him right now wouldn't help. So instead she turned to Pride and levelled him with a glare too. "You should go to bed too."

"I don't need bed, Brody." He argued, and this time it was clear he was planning on starting work again. There was exactly zero chance that she was going to let him do that. She really needed to get him to go to sleep and to stop worrying about everything. That was going to be easier said than done, but it was still necessary.

"Yes you do, come on." She placed a hand on his back and pushed him toward the stairs. There was something she found a little amusing about the fact that she was managing to push her boss, who was a far bit bigger than her anywhere. That made her think that maybe he was letting her.

"I should write the report into Jenks' death." He mumbled as they reached the stairs, and he just pushed again to get him to start climbing. The reports and after action commentary and all of that could wait until the morning.

"You can do that in the morning. For now, sleep." She encouraged again as they got to the top of the stairs and she pushed him out onto the balcony that lead to his room.

"Are you going to sleep?" He asked softly, and she smiled that he was thinking about her sleeping too. At least she could reassure him. She was most definitely going to be sleeping, eventually.

"I was going to go home." She laughed, her bed had been calling her name since she'd gotten here, and she was looking forward to crawling into it, cuddling her favourite teddy and forgetting the day.

"Merri, stay here." There was a soft pleading tone he employed when he wanted something personal, and that was what he used now. Maybe he was just worried, and wanted to keep both his agents close, she didn't know for certain. She just knew he wouldn't ask if he didn't really want her to stay.

"Alright, I'll stay." She accepted, not really sure where she could sleep, as both rooms were now taken, but she'd stay. She'd find somewhere, a sofa. If he wanted her to stay, then she'd stay.

"You know I saw you were hurt, the other day after the shooting..." She remembered, and she hadn't even noticed she was hurt. He was the one who noticed, and for some reason it didn't surprise her that he'd been obsessing about that. But what he said next did surprise her. "And I just thought what if you were her. What if it was you Jenks had killed."

"It wasn't me, King." She reassured him. Pressing her hand to his cheek and smiling when he leant against it. "I feel awful, for LaSalle, I can't imagine how he feels... but it wasn't me or you or Laurel." She knew that would be something that regularly rand through Pride's mind. The people he cared about being hurt. Baitfish had hung over them all for far too long. "Jenks is dead, King, and he won't be able to kill anyone again."

"Broussard though." He started, but she wasn't going to let him take her down that path again. She got him outside his room and just smiled at him, squeezing the hand she'd somehow ended up holding. He needed to be reassured again, and she could do that.

"She's in prison, right now she can't do anything. So take this time to rest." She kissed him on the cheek and then started to walk away, only for his arm to grab hers and stop her from moving. She recognised this as being a broken man wanting comfort, and she desperately wanted to give it to him, she just hadn't been sure where she stood.

"I need you." That was a simple plea, and it was she who had uttered that the last time they'd been here. During the _Moultrie_ investigation she'd given him the same gentle plea, and he'd stayed through the night, and they'd made love in the dark and when light had dawned they'd gone back to pretending that nothing had happened at all. "Please stay."

"OK." She muttered, but by that point she'd had little choice, She knew she'd be staying. As he pulled her into his room he had her Kevlar unfastened before she'd even fully removed her hat. Brody couldn't blame him for this need, she shared it, and she knew it was often a reaction to situations like those they had faced the last few days.

She had no idea how fast it happened, but the next thing she knew she was pulling King's shirt off as he untucked hers. They pulled hers off more carefully, both aware of the stitches in her arm. She felt his hands graze them for a minute, and she just instead lifted his chin and kissed him again, trying to redirect his attention away from what could have been.

He pulled her to the bed, making short work of the rest of their clothes as they made their way through his room. Neither of them had the time or desire for some slow, romantic build-up. They both just needed the connection of being with another human being, one they loved and trusted beyond all others. That was what they were to each other, without the formal relationship.

They joined together on the bed, and as he pushed inside her she remembered what she'd learnt last time they were together. The things he liked, and he seemed to remember all the things she liked too. He rolled them over after a few minutes so she was on top, and that was even better for this. They both needed the release, and this way she could control how fast or slow this went.

Building him up he sat forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as they both reached the end. She bit into the soft skin in the crook of his neck and shoulder, just hard enough to leave a mark and just long enough to stop her scream, then she sat up again and kissed him hard, feeling the last of their climax trail off and ending up just holding each other, breathing heavily.

He lay them down again, and while neither spoke they both laid awake facing each other, even with his eyes closed she could tell he was deep in thought about something or someone. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, and smile when he returned it a second later. This had done what they'd both needed it to do, it had reaffirmed their connection to the world around them, and to each other.

"Sleep, Dwayne." She muttered, kissing him lightly one last time as he curled into her chest. She just held him close and dozed off as well. She could face the consequences in the morning of the fact they'd done this again. Right now all that mattered was the man in her arms and her desire to know that he was OK, that he was going to be OK. Jenks and Broussard and the Syndicate and absolutely everything else could wait until the morning. As his breathing levelled out and his grip became less desperate she smiled to herself and settled down to sleep too.

Something may be coming for the city, but there was nothing that she or anyone else on her team could do right now. So they should take the night and rest up. Saving the city could wait one more day.


End file.
